Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Chipotle Launches Friend or Faux, New Interactive Game on July 21st

Chipotle Continues Effort to Educate Consumers on What's in Their Food, in Upcoming Marketing Campaign

“Friend or Faux” reinforces the beauty of simplicity in food by contrasting Chipotle ingredients with fast food

On July 21, Chipotle Mexican Grill will launch “Friend or Faux,” an integrated marketing campaign and interactive digital experience that invites consumers to learn about the differences between Chipotle’s ingredients and those commonly used to make fast food. The “Friend or Faux” game is optimized for mobile and desktop use, and will be accessible by visiting www.chipotle.com/friendorfaux. The campaign will be supported by extensive online advertising.

“Friend or Faux” reinforces Chipotle’s commitment to serving real, high quality ingredients raised with respect for farmers, the environment, animals and consumers, while taking a progressive approach to continue conversations about where food comes from and how it is prepared.

In a marketing-driven industry where new menu items are often used to drive customer traffic and proliferation of menu items is the norm, cheap, heavily processed foods that include thousands of additives and artificial ingredients have become common. Chipotle has chosen a different path, focusing instead on making food with great quality ingredients prepared using classic cooking techniques. Through this campaign, Chipotle will showcase the limited number of ingredients it uses to make its food (just 68 ingredients in total), and contrast that with the long and complex ingredient lists on which many fast food brands have become so reliant.

“There’s been a lot of talk recently about fast food companies removing artificial ingredients from their food, but most of these announcements cover only a portion of the thousands of additives used in processed foods,” explained Mark Crumpacker, Chief Creative and Development Officer at Chipotle. “Through ‘Friend or Faux,’ we are giving consumers an entertaining way to contrast the collective beauty of Chipotle’s food with the complex ingredient lists that make up many fast food and packaged food items. By engaging people in a way that makes them more curious about what they are eating, we hope they will better understand the options that are available to them.”

To play “Friend or Faux,” consumers must choose a Chipotle menu item and one of a number of fast food menu items, and then compare and match 20 ingredients, identifying which menu item contains each ingredient - the Chipotle item, the fast food item, or both. The menu items will include a variety of Chipotle’s burritos, bowls, tacos and salads, as well as items such as burgers, burritos, tacos, sandwiches, salads, and pizzas available from a number of common fast food brands. A “study guide,” where users can learn about the ingredients, showcasing the range of fresh, whole options found in Chipotle’s menu compared to that of other fast food restaurants, will also be available.

As a reward, users who complete the ingredient comparison experience will receive a special buy-one-get-one mobile offer, as well as an entry into a national sweepstakes. The national sweepstakes will award 50 grand prize winners with one year of “Free Burritos for You and a Friend” and 100 first prize winners with a “Catering Party for 20” (where available). Users who share the “Friend or Faux” website on their Facebook and Twitter pages will receive a bonus sweeps entry.

In addition to the game, the “Friend or Faux” campaign will include extensive advertising to reinforce the message and drive participation of the game.

For more information and to try the “Friend or Faux” experience, please visit

Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO, started Chipotle with the idea that food served fast did not have to be a typical fast-food experience. Today, Chipotle continues to offer a focused menu of burritos, tacos, burrito bowls (a burrito without the tortilla) and salads made from fresh, high-quality raw ingredients, prepared using classic cooking methods and served in a distinctive atmosphere. Through our vision of Food With Integrity, Chipotle is seeking better food from using ingredients that are not only fresh, but that - where possible - are sustainably grown and raised responsibly with respect for the animals, the land and the farmers who produce the food. In order to achieve this vision, we focus on building a special people culture that is centered on creating teams of top performers empowered to achieve high standards. This people culture not only leads to a better dining experience for our customers, it also allows us to develop future leaders from within. Chipotle opened with a single restaurant in 1993 and operates more than 1,800 restaurants, including 17 Chipotle restaurants outside the U.S. and 10 ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen restaurants, and is an investor in an entity that owns and operates three Pizzeria Locale restaurants. For more information, visit Chipotle.com.